The Los Angeles Rams will face the Minnesota Vikings on Wild Card Weekend. Here’s the latest fantasy football news and advice to help you with your lineups this week and moving forward, especially regarding QB Matthew Stafford.
Is Matthew Stafford Playing vs. the Vikings?
Stafford does not have an injury designation heading into the game this weekend. Barring any setbacks, he is on track to play vs. the Vikings.
We’ll continue to monitor the Rams’ injury report. You can also visit and bookmark our NFL Injury Tracker and Fantasy News Tracker for the latest updates.
Should You Start or Sit Matthew Stafford on Wild Card Weekend?
This game of ours can be so complicated. The smarter we get, the more intricate play-calling gets and a team’s willingness to think outside of the box can make them difficult to project.
Other times, it’s so simple. Matthew Stafford threw for 279 yards and four scores against the Vikings in Week 8, a production level that was made possible by following a single principle.
Give your best players a chance.
In that win, Stafford funneled 70.6% of his passes (68% of his completions) to Puka Nacua, Cooper Kupp, or Kyren Williams. We can caution against building a top-heavy roster like what Los Angeles has, but in a one-game setting, it can be effective. At this point, that’s all that matters.
While I like the potential of this offense when everything is going right, I worry about the trajectory.
Stafford has completed a career-low 46.5% of his red-zone passes, and I’m less confident now as I can ever remember in his ability to rack up fantasy points through sheer volume (he hasn’t thrown more than 32 passes in a victory since Week 9).
Of course, that math flips if you think the Vikings control this game, as Stafford is averaging 38.7 attempts per game in defeats. I like the idea of the stars on this team getting a week off entering this game, though it should be noted that Stafford has been held under 200 passing yards in his last three contests after an official bye.
I’ve got this essentially as a neutral matchup. While I think this is a competitive game, there are six quarterbacks I’d rather back at cost this week, and that leaves me with no real exposure to Stafford. If things go right for the Rams, I think Williams is getting fed and if the game script flips, a pocket-locked QB isn’t how I want to beat Brian Flores’ aggression.
Are you looking for start/sit advice for other players in your lineup? Read our Wild Card Weekend Fantasy Start-Sit Advice Cheat Sheet for every fantasy-relevant player in every game.
Matthew Stafford’s Fantasy Points Projection on Wild Card Weekend
As of Saturday, Stafford is projected to score 17.2 fantasy points on Wild Card Weekend. This includes 276.1 passing yards, 1.7 passing touchdowns, and 0.9 interceptions. It also includes 1.5 rushing attempts for 1.9 yards and 0 touchdowns.
Check out the free PFN Fantasy Start-Sit Optimizer for the latest projections and advice for your lineups this week.
PFN Insight on the Eagles' Defense
With Jalen Hurts MIA and Saquon Barkley less explosive than usual, the Philadelphia Eagles still cruised to a Wild Card victory over the Green Bay Packers. Four turnovers helps, but this defense remains one of the more suffocating all-around units.
Philly had its third-highest rushing success rate of the season (71%), forcing Jordan Love into unfavorable down-and-distance situations. That allowed the Eagles' pass rush to tee off, with the Birds recording their third-highest non-blitz pressure rate (43%) this season.
There isn't a single statistical flaw in Philadelphia's defense, which ranks top 10 in every metric that encompasses the Defense+ grades (except for sack rate, where they're 15th). That makes them an incredibly dangerous threat to win the NFC, even without the top seed.
For more insight on all other team defenses, head to our PFN Defense+ Metric Analysis.
Matthew Stafford’s Fantasy Ranking
Our Weekly Consensus PPR Rankings are below — both positional and overall. They were last updated at 9:15 AM ET on Saturday, January 18. If you're in a Superflex league, make sure you check out our Divisional Round Superflex Rankings.
Divisional Round QB PPR Rankings
1) Josh Allen | BUF (vs. BAL)
2) Lamar Jackson | BAL (at BUF)
3) Jayden Daniels | WAS (at DET)
4) Jalen Hurts | PHI (vs. LAR)
5) Jared Goff | DET (vs. WAS)
6) Patrick Mahomes | KC (vs. HOU)
7) Matthew Stafford | LAR (at PHI)
8) C.J. Stroud | HOU (at KC)
Rams at Eagles Trends and Insights
Los Angeles Rams
Team: Through five weeks, the remaining four teams in the AFC were 1-2-3-4 in the conference standings. In the NFC, the Vikings were sitting atop the conference (5-0), while the Rams were tied with the Panthers in the basement (1-4).
QB: Matthew Stafford was a slow starter during the regular season (35th of 36 qualifiers in first-quarter completion percentage), but that wasn't the case against the Vikings (11/12 for 124 yards and a touchdown).
Offense: Even in the impressive win, the Rams struggled on third down (two-of-10) -- they've failed to convert over 25% of their third down opportunities in seven different games this season.
Defense: Only once during the regular season did the Rams record more than four sacks. Monday was a different story as they tied the NFL record for most sacks in a playoff game (nine).
https://twitter.com/PFN365/status/1878997563069673976
Fantasy: Cooper Kupp has earned just 10 targets on 87 routes run (five receptions) over his past four games.
Betting: Since their Week 6 bye, the Rams have played four games against playoff teams, scoring an average of 30.3 points in each.
Philadelphia Eagles
Team: Philadelphia won 14 games during the regular season, the fourth time in franchise history that they’ve won at least a baker’s dozen – they represented the NFC in the Super Bowl in each of the previous three seasons (2004, 2017, and 2022).
QB: Jalen Hurts posted a 69.6 QB+ on Sunday against the Packers, the third lowest since 2019 in a playoff victory (only Jimmy Garoppolo in 2021 and Trevor Lawrence in 2022 were able to advance despite a lesser grade).
Offense: The NFL average for points per drive is 2.06 – the Eagles haven’t been held under 2.00 points per possession since September.
Defense: The Packers scored 53.8% of their third downs on Sunday, the second-highest rate produced by an opponent against the Eagles this season, topped only by the Bengals (Week 8).
Fantasy: A.J. Brown turned 24 routes into just a single catch – his 0.42 yards per route run was the sixth-worst mark of his career. Safe to call that the outlier and not the norm, as this has been his best season in that metric (2.87).
Betting: The Eagles are 8-2 ATS since 2005 in non-Wild Card playoff games (six of those covers came by more than seven points).
